I promise
by Lady-Pyrien
Summary: Lovino is a protective brother, just looking out for his little sister. Worried about her integrity, he disguises himself as a woman in order to attend a party he wasn't previously invited to. Upon accidentally signalling to one of the host's friends that he promises to marry him, Lovino now faces protecting his sister while also balancing his newly acquired identity as a woman and


blllaaahhhh I know I said I wouldn't upload anything without finishing it first, but i can't help myself anymore...

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><p><span><strong>I Promise<strong>

**Chapter One: The Accident**

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><p>Lovino awoke to the birds chirping outside. He smiled softly to himself. Contrary to popular belief, among the people of the large town in which he lived, he really was a morning person. His sister was the grouch when she first woke up.<p>

He sat up and stretched and sighed happily. The mood would ruin – as it usually did – as soon as he met with his grandfather at the breakfast table. Unlike most other business men in the area, Aemilius was laid back and relaxed with everything but business. He didn't strive for a perfect reputation because he was already well liked in the community. While not everyone saw him as some grand entity or perfect man, he was just true to himself.

But then you must be wondering why Lovino dislikes him so much, right? Well, Lovino is the heir to the business and feels he is often mistreated simply because he'll take over the business.

Lovino got up and dressed himself, combing his hair and making sure he was presentable. Especially if he was going to be heading down to the park with his sister so they could take a walk.

He stepped out of his room and headed down to the dining room where his grandfather and sister were sitting there. His little brother came running in after him, quickly hopping into his seat.

Aemilius looked up and began scolding him. Lovino's mood was slowly falling to pieces already. He sat down and smiled at the maid that brought his food. He slowly began eating, just waiting for it.

"Oh, Lovino, there you are." Aemilius said, setting down his paper, "I would like for you to consider coming with me to the office as soon as possible…"

"I'll think about it." Lovino said.

The elder man sighed, "I mean it, Lovino… You really need to get in gear for when I pass the company to you. I'm getting old and I need you to be ready."

"I heard you."

Aemilius sighed and shook his head. The butler walked into the dining room with the mail they had received. Aemilius took them up, "Felicia, it seems you have an invitation from the Beilschmidt residence." He said, handing her the neatly sealed envelope.

Felicia hummed lightly in confusion and took the invitation and slowly opened it. She smiled brightly, "Oh! Nonno, it's a party~" she smiled brightly.

He took the invitation and looked it over, "So it is. You should RSVP and I'll have aunt Elaina escort you. I don't believe I'll be able to go…"

Lovino frowned. He was often left out of parties and gatherings that weren't hosted by his own grandfather. He knew it was because none of the other men liked him. He was crude and condescending towards them, leaving only smiles for the young women. He strongly disliked when his sister went to parties without him, too. She was naïve and could easily be led astray by some cunning man, ready to destroy her reputation. It would kill Felicia if she lost face and was unable to marry. Their aunt Elaina was good at keeping an eye on her, but not good enough.

He had to figure something out so that he could go, too. As Felicia got up to go let the other household know she would be there with her aunt, Lovino jumped up to follow, a stupid idea in his head, but one he hoped would work. He swore his sister to secrecy and came back to the table to finish breakfast.

After their food had settled a bit, Felicia and Lovino went for the walk. The day was just as lovely as that morning and Felicia peered into shops to find a nice dress to wear at the party. The two walked into a shop and Lovino peered around at the hand sewn dresses, premade and ready to be tailored by the seamstress who owned the shop with her tailor husband.

Felicia immediately found the perfect dress and the older woman went to pin it to fit. Lovino licked his lips and grabbed up a nice dress. It wasn't as pretty as the one Felicia grabbed up, but he paid for it and his sister's dress as well.

He took up the bundles of fabric and made took the slip of paper that would let him know when to come pick up Felicia's dress and the two were on their way.

Lovino made their Aunt Elaina aware of his plans and the woman just laughed and offered to help.

Unfortunately for Lovino, Elaina told Aemilius his plan.

Lovino was sitting in his room, reading a book when Aemilius knocked and entered, "So… cousin Chiara, huh?"

Lovino's face went pale and he looked up at his grandfather, "Oh dear God…"

Aemilius just burst out laughing, "You've really found a loophole to this, haven't you? I can't believe they're letting out 'cousin' go, too. But I commend your dedication to protecting Felicia… Dressing up like a woman… That's a first…"

Lovino sighed. He should have known the older man wouldn't care. He just didn't want to hear it…

The rest of the week before the party was taught teaching Lovino the proper behavior for a young woman of his social standing. He took to some of it, but he couldn't quite wrap his mind around everything he'd have to watch out for.

Soon enough, he was pulled into his dress, his aunt so lovingly tailored for him, as well as a corset to give him curves and a wig, carefully and tightly pinned into his real hair. His face was painted up and plucked until he fit the part. The man hardly recognized himself.

Rubbing his gloved arm, he walked down to the livingroom, "Well…?" he asked his grandfather.

Aemilius grinned, "Too convincing… I'm beginning to wonder about you."

Lovino huffed and looked back as Elaina and Felicia walked down. Lovino smiled softly at his sister, who held tightly to her fan, "Come on~ I don't want to be late~" she giggled, kissing her grandfather's cheek.

The three of them left to the party.

Lovino looked around, once they were let in. People of all sorts chatted together, men and women danced and some people happily flirted with each other.

It was really no different than one of his own parties… except he wasn't one of the hosts and he couldn't dance since there was no way in hell he was going to dance with a man and it would seem a little weird for a lady to dance with another lady.

Felicia instantly found her friends and introduced them to 'Chiara', her cousin whom was visiting. Lovino smiled happily and listened to them talk while he boredly looked around.

After a while, he noticed some of the guys from his age group. There was Gilbert Beilschmidt, a twenty-two year old first class German decent albino. Gilbert was always one to play pranks and get away with it. Lovino hated him.

Then there was Francis. He was a 23 year old Frenchman and a huge flirt. He sent all the ladies flowers for no apparent reason, causing a lot of confusion and rumors. He didn't care. He treated each girl he came across as a beautiful flower in a field of dead grass. Lovino hated him, too.

Finally, there was Antonio. Lovino hated him most. He was way too cheerful and stupid to know whether it was night or day. He talked endlessly about stupid topics like gardens and weather. He also had the tendency to not know where his personal boundaries were and often said things without thinking first.

Lovino rolled his eyes and looked away. He saw Felicia and Elaina were still busy chatting. He figured there was nothing to worry about since the big culprits were busy on their own. He sighed and walked out to the open balcony to stare up at the stars. His rips were seriously beginning to hurt now in the dress. His sister seemed fine… maybe he would just go home. He turned around and looked down at the lacey fan in his hands and opened it up wide. He ran his fingers over the lace and looked up to lock eyes with bright green ones.

He gasped softly. What was Antonio staring at….? He slowly closed the fan, ready to just leave now. However, Antonio's eyes widened and his face turned red. The Spaniard walked away from his friends and began walking over to Lovino.

Lovino began panicking. Did he recognize him‽ He quickly whipped the face open and used it to hide his face.

Antonio bowed politely, "I don't believe we're met and I know it's incredibly rude to just approach you…" he said, his voice accented. His cheeks were even redder now.

Lovino bit his lip, "Um… I'm C-Chiara…" he said, raising the pitch of his voice.

"Chiara~" he smiled, "Beautiful name…"

"Thank you…" Lovino was close to stomping on his foot and scurrying away, but he was frozen in place, feeling almost trapped.

"Would you care to dance…?"

"No! I mean… yes … I mean… No I do not want to dance!" Lovino huffed.

Felicia looked around, frowning softly when she couldn't find her brother. She gasped, seeing him out on the balcony and rushed over, "Oh! There you are, Chiara!" she laughed nervously, "I do heavily apologize, sir." She said, grabbing her brother's hand to walk back over to the others, "Lovi, you have to be careful, okay…?"

"That was too close…" Lovino whined, turning back to look at the confused man, his fan clutched to his chest.

Antonio licked his lips and smiled. He walked over to his friends to speak with them.

Lovino eventually convinced his sister and aunt to leave. Felicia seemed rather disappointed to be leaving and held her own fan just behind her head as she left with her brother.

Immediately upon getting home, Lovino pulled himself out of the dress and pins and corset and allowed himself to breathe deeply. "Thank the heavens that mess is over. What the hell was that bastard's problem…?" he muttered, cleaning the make up from his face.

Tired and sore from the torture he'd been through, he flopped down onto his bed and fell fast asleep.

Unlike usual, he woke up feeling grumpy and irritated. He got dressed and headed down to the dining room to eat.

His sister seemed a bit out of it as she slowly nibbled on her food.

Lovino just rolled his eyes and sat down to eat. As the mail was brought in, Lovino raised his brow at the large bouquet of gorgeous flowers and a box wrapped in silvery paper.

"What's this~?" Aemilius grinned, "Does my beautiful daughter have a gentleman caller or two~?" he raised his brow.

The butler raised his brow, "Yes, both of them."

"Both…?"

Lovino frowned and looked up as Aemilius looked over the card attached. He burst out laughing. It wasn't a chuckled, but rather a dull roar that shook the table lightly as tears welled up in the man's eyes. When he was finally able to speak again, he looked at the butler and nodded as the box was handed to Felicia while the flowers were thrust into Lovino's arms.

Lovino's eyes widened and he sputtered, cheeks going red, "What is this‽" he asked, grabbing the card.

'_I know time was cut short, but I would like to see you again. I hope this finds you as I do not know where you are actually staying – Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo' _

Lovino stared at the card, his face blank before he got up and threw them outside into the yard. He sat down and grumbled to himself.

"Aw, come now Lovino, that's hardly nice~" Aemilius teased.

"Who was that from, Lovino…?" Felicia asked softly, a soft blush on her face as she ran her fingers over her box of chocolates.

"That…" he growled, "he thought I was a woman!"

Felicia giggled, "You were convincing. I think he likes you~"

"No, he likes a woman that doesn't exist. I'm going to have 'Chiara' send him away." He muttered, getting up to go write Antonio a rejection.

"Oh Lovino, you just don't understand young love~"

"It's not young love!" Lovino snapped. He sat down at the desk and grabbed a clean piece of paper and began writing. He sighed softly and sealed it with his grandfather's seal and got up to give it to be delivered.

He walked into the living room and he nearly tripped over his feet when he saw the three men in the den chatting with his father and sister. Francis seemed a bit bored with himself. Whereas Gilbert and Antonio looked nervous.

"What are they doing here…?" Lovino hissed.

Aemilius looked up, "I called them over to talk about their gifts~"

Lovino went red, "Ohh you're playing with fire old man…"

"Oh hush and go see if young Chiara would like to say hello to her suitor~" he winked.

Lovino glanced over at Antonio, who looked at him with a smile. He looked back at his grandfather, his heart pounding in shame, "I don't think she does. In fact, I think she was leaving to never, ever come back ever."

Antonio seemed a bit crestfallen, "Is she really…?"

"Yes!" Lovino snapped at the same time his grandfather chimed out a, 'no'.

"Lovino, please treat our guests with kindness." Aemilius said, "And go get Chiara."

With a red face, Lovino stomped up the stairs and slammed the door. There was no way he was putting a dress back on to make a fool of himself again.

About twenty minutes passed before Aemilius came into Lovino's room, "You know it's just terrible to leave a suitor waiting.

"Is this some sort of messed up game for you?" Lovino growled, looking out the window at the scattered flowers, "I'm not putting on a dress to flirt with that man, you can forget it. I'm not going to sit there and play along."

"You did promise to marry him, after all…"

Lovino blinked and looked at him, "I did not!"

"You did~ He told us how you wandered off to the balcony and locked eyes with him. You used you fan to tell him how much you loved him and wanted to marry him."

"I… I…" he groaned and rubbed his face, "It was an accident… I didn't know I was doing that…"

"You know I'm only messing with you." Aemilius said, "But you really should set things straight with him. Tell him what happened or something."

Lovino snapped his head up, "I can't do that!" he squeaked, "I'd have to tell him I was dressed a woman to sneak into a ball I wasn't invited to!"

Aemilius chuckled, "Think of something." He ruffled his grandson's hair and got up to head downstairs.

Lovino groaned. He got up and left the room.

Aemilius oversaw his granddaughter's meeting with Gilbert, her suitor, whom she seemed completely enthusiastic to chat with.

He glanced over and chuckled softly, trying not to laugh too much. Lovino stood nervously in the hall, a dress once again pooled around his body, his wig pinned tightly onto his head, hair pinned back as well. He wore a light bit of makeup.

"Oh, don't be shy~" he smiled, beckoning him.

Lovino growled lightly but straightened up and stepped out into the den, head held high.

Antonio perked up and stood to bow lightly to him and hold his hand out to take his, to which Lovino plastered on a false smile and let him kiss his knuckles.

"Thank you for coming down to see me~" Antonio smiled happily.

"Uh… you're welcome…?" Lovino raised his brow. He sat down beside his sister and licked his lips a bit awkwardly. He looked away from Antonio to glare at Gilbert. He didn't want any of these three anywhere near his sister. Especially Gilbert.

It was only a little bit later, the conversation dwindled down to nothing and the three men left. Lovino growled, "I'm never putting on a dress again…" he muttered.

"You look adorable~" Aemilius chuckled, "Just like a princess~"

"Yeah well, when Antonio sees how boring I am, he'll leave me alone and then I'll get some peace and quiet." He muttered, storming up to his room. He sat on his bed and looked at the dress covering his legs. Why did everyone like him better in this thing…? The trio of numbskulls were coming around the house, one of them even asking for him, when before they would talk loudly to themselves about how they wouldn't invite him anywhere. They didn't want to associate themselves with him. He sighed and slowly began taking the dress off.

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><p><em>~Lady Pyrien<em>


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